


No Matter What It Takes

by brokenhighways



Series: Happy Endings [1]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst and Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-01-10
Packaged: 2018-01-08 06:56:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1129666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenhighways/pseuds/brokenhighways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen comes to the conclusion that monogamy sucks about a month after his fiancé Jared leaves him at the altar (well, technically it was the rehearsal dinner but it might as well have been the damn altar). Jared seems to be moving on just fine while Jensen’s been unable to hook up with anyone because they’re not Jared. He doesn't feel all that bad about that until Jared calls to ask if it’d be okay for him to bring his new "friend" Trevor to the bar one evening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Matter What It Takes

**Author's Note:**

> Based on Happy Endings. This is intended to be the first in a series but it also works as a standalone. I think.

Jensen comes to the conclusion that monogamy sucks about a month after his fiancé Jared leaves him at the altar (well, technically it was the rehearsal dinner but it might as well have been the damn altar). The reason why Jensen is currently waging war on monogamy is the fact that Jared seems to be moving on just fine while Jensen’s been unable to hook up with anyone because they’re not Jared. He hadn’t felt all that bad about that until a few minutes ago when Jared called to ask if it’d be okay for him to bring his new friend Trevor to the bar that evening. Jensen says yes, because his friends are also Jared’s friends and damn if he’s going to be the one that tramples all over their group dynamic and makes everyone pick sides. So yeah, Jensen’s going to go to the bar and destroy himself while watching suck face with this douchebag Trevor for three hours. If he happens to be wearing the green shirt that Jared always said brought out his eyes and his tightest pair of jeans then that’s just a coincidence.  
  
Jensen’s early but so is Danneel so he joins her in their usual booth at their local bar. She’s wearing a low-cut shirt and flirting with the gay bartender. Jensen wonders when she’ll learn but he remains silent. Hearing about the string of gay guys that Danneel unwittingly ends up dating is a welcome distraction from Jensen’s mess of a life. It’s funny how being left at the altar (or rehearsal dinner) changes your entire world.  
  
“I can’t believe you okayed Jared bringing this Trent guy to the bar,” Danneel scoffs when she finally decides to acknowledge his presence. “You’re clearly not over him.”  
  
“But he’s clearly over me,” Jensen says with a shrug. “There’s nothing I can do.”  
  
“Yes there is,” Danneel says. “You’re just too much of a coward to try and fix things.” Jensen sighs. His friends still think that he and Jared could patch things up one day but it’s not going to happen. He and Jared have agreed to be friends and that’s the end of it. Sure, Jensen still doesn’t know what he did wrong, what he did to make Jared not want to spend the rest of their lives together anymore. He could ask Jared, but the fact that he doesn’t know is probably a lot of the reason why they’re no longer together anymore, and that hurts. Jensen’s pissed at himself for slipping up and pissed at Jared for not talking to him. At this stage getting back together would surely do more harm than good. And there’s the whole Jared clearly moving on thing.  
  
“What’s up, bitches,” Chad slides into the booth, closely followed by Katie, who’s Jared’s cousin and happily married to one of Jensen’s best friends, Aldis. Seeing them together doesn’t sting at all. Nope. Jensen doesn’t look at Katie and Aldis and daydream about all the couple’s dates he and Jared could have had with them. He doesn’t feel a pang of loss, or anything like that.  
  
“Did you seriously tell Jared that it was okay to bring this guy?” Katie forgoes a greeting and moves straight into meddling. Jensen expects no less from her. “Are you completely insane?”  
  
“Uh, what was he supposed to do?” Aldis says. “Say no?”  
  
“Yes!” Danneel, Chad and Katie all say in unison before turning to glare at Aldis.  
  
“Oh come on, like Jensen could ever say no to Jared,” Chris already has a beer in his hand as he joins them. Katie throws a coaster at him and mouths ‘shut up’ at him despite the fact that Jensen is sitting right there. He stifles a laugh. Even though none of this is their business he still loves his friends and their ability to make him feel better.  
  
“There’s still time for all of us to leave before Jared gets here?” Danneel says as she glances at her phone. “There’s this really cute guy who goes to that bar across town. He wears this hot, red leather jacket and—“  
  
“That dude is gay,” Chad interrupts. “And I know this because I had sex with him last week.”  
  
“Dammit,” Danneel says with a weary sigh. Jensen pats her on the arm. She’ll find a nice, straight guy someday.  
  
“Oh, here comes Jared,” Katie says before Danneel can launch into her why can’t I find a nice guy diatribe. Jensen looks up to see Jared making his way over to their booth with Trevor in tow. The guy looks suspiciously like one of the creepers from Jared’s pianist support group. Apparently playing piano in restaurants is a very stressful vocation.  
  
“Hey guys,” Jared says warmly. There’s an awkward tension all of a sudden and Jensen knows that Jared has picked up on it.  
  
“This is going to get awkward pretty fast,” Chris mumbles under his breath.  
  
“This is Trevor,” Jared announces, before he introduces the gang. He does Jensen last and says, “And this is Jensen my fi—friend.”  
  
“And now it’s awkward,” Chad says. “And I just remembered that I have to see a man about a thing so I’m outta here. Later, bitches.” Chad’s gone in seconds. Danneel makes up a fake date minutes later and Katie and Aldis mumble something about a couple’s improv class. Chris wanders over towards the bar and just doesn’t come back. That leaves Jensen on his own with Trevor – who really is a douchebag – and Jared, who looks so uncomfortable that Jensen forces himself to stay. So far Trevor’s spent the half an hour that he’s been here, ordering for Jared, talking over Jared and referring to himself in third person. Jensen sits there and does his best not to lean over and deck the guy. He breathes a huge sigh of relief when Trevor eventually gets up to use the bathroom. Jared smiles at Jensen nervously and then starts to twirl his hair in his fingers. Jensen sips his beer slowly. They’re both startled when Jared’s phone goes off five minutes later.  
  
“Trevor ditched us,” Jared says. “Said he wasn’t feeling well.” Jensen scoffs. He can’t believe that this Trevor has the balls to ditch Jared when he was the one who’d been making everyone’s evening a nightmare. Unless of course Trevor had felt threatened by Jensen’s presence.  
  
Oops.  
  
“You deserve better anyway,” he says with a shrug. Jared smiles at him softly but he doesn’t say anything.  
  
~  
  
Jared ends up being ‘sexiled’ by Chad so Jensen tells him to come back to their old place. Jared’s name is still on the lease and really, it isn’t fair that Jared’s been sleeping on Chad’s couch when he has a perfectly good home here. After consuming too many beers, Jensen finds himself telling Jared that he can always stay in the spare room. He gets a weird look from Jared in return, though his vision is admittedly a little hazy from the alcohol.  
  
“What?” Jensen asks. “What is it?”  
  
“I moved out because I didn’t want you to try and talk me around.” Jensen swallows and nods. Of course Jared did. Of course he fucking did.  
  
“What makes you think that I would have tried to do that?” Jensen asks, and he can feel anger brimming up inside, the very same emotion that he’s been squashing down ever since Jared put his fork down and uttered those painful words – ‘I can’t marry you, Jensen. It’s over.’  
  
“The twenty miscalls and fifty messages I got from you – an hour after we broke up,” Jared says. Jensen snorts at that because he doesn’t appreciate being mocked. They have been – were – together for ten years. Jared must really hate him if he thinks that Jensen would just let him go without a fight.  
  
“You’ve got some nerve!” he spits out. “You wouldn’t explain why you were leaving me, you weren’t telling me what I’d done! How was I supposed to fix things?”  
  
“You can’t fix us, Jensen, no one can. We’re…unfixable,” Jared says. “I wasn’t going to give you a chance to worm your way back like you always do. I always forgive you, always let you talk me round and I just can’t do it anymore.” It’s the most that Jared’s said about his reasons for breaking up and Jensen still can’t make any fucking sense of it. One day they were happy and in love, and the next he was drowning his sorrows and wondering why Jared had ripped his heart out.  
  
“I didn’t rip your heart out,” Jared insists. “I was protecting you - us. I wasn’t happy, Jensen and…I don’t think you were either.”  
  
“I was,” Jensen says instantly. “I must have been, because every day since you left has been poor torture. I miss you, Jared, I miss you so much.”  
  
“I miss you too, Jen,” Jared replies gently. “I…I wish things were different.” Jensen’s anger flares up again. How can Jared look at him like that and say something like that when he’s the one who ruined everything, he’s the reason why they’re both unhappy. This is all Jared’s fault. Jensen decides to tell him as much. He’s done keeping his mouth shut.  
  
“It’s always my fault,” Jared says with an eye roll. “You didn’t get that promotion at work – my fault. We didn’t get the house we wanted – my fault. Everything is always my fucking fault.”  
  
“It is!” Jensen shouts. “You’re so selfish, and you don’t think about---where the hell are you going?” Jared’s up and heading for the door because he’s a fucking, infuriating asshole who doesn’t want to hear the truth. Jared’s always up and out of the door – always running away instead of facing his problems and Jensen is fucking sick of it.  
  
“I’m leaving! I don’t have to listen to you anymore. We’re over. Done. Finished. You’re not my problem anymore and…I don’t…” Jared trails off and Jensen finds himself feeling even more annoyed.  
  
“You’re pathetic, Jared,” he says, unable to stop himself. “You don’t even have a good excuse. I’ll let you in on a secret, man – you’re a fucking a coward. You’d rather run away than solve your problems, or better yet you get me to solve them because you’re too fucking scared.”  
  
“That’s not true,” Jared replies. “If that were true, I’d be here—no, we’d be here all married and miserable. I’d hate myself. Telling you that I didn’t want to get married was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and…it was the right thing to do. Look at us! Do you really think we were in the right place last month?”  
  
“Yes!” Jensen screams because Jared doesn’t seem to get it. The only one with the issue here is Jared, and Jensen is not a mind reader. “The question is why didn’t you? Why did you stop talking to me?”  
  
“Ha, that’s the question,” Jared laughs harshly. “I didn’t stop talking. You stopped listening to me.” It’s Jensen’s turn to laugh because that? Is the most ridiculous thing that he’s ever heard? Yes, he was busier with work in the last few months of their relationship but he always made time for Jared.  
  
Didn’t he?  
  
“What is it?” Jared says as he stares at Jensen searchingly. “You know I’m right, don’t you? I can see it on your face.”  
  
“Fuck you, man, don’t fucking project your insecurities on me,” Jensen spits back. “I listened to you every fucking day. And you know what? If you felt like I didn’t you should have made me listen. You don’t just give up!” Jared’s hand flies out and connects with the wall, making a solid thwack noise.  
  
“I didn’t give up, you bastard,” he yells. “I spent two years not giving up but it was killing me. I had to get out. You were killing me. The turning up late, I could handle, the forgetting things, the phoning it in whenever we had sex, all of that shit, I could take it because that shit happens, right? But it was like you didn’t even see me. Like you thought that slapping a ring on my finger was a guarantee that I’d be around forever.” Jensen feels a sick sense of dread flowing through him. He doesn’t think that he did any of that but…it’s his own hesitation that makes him pause. What if he’s guilty of all of those things? What if…he’s the one who destroyed the relationship? Suddenly he’s not just mad at Jared, he’s mad at himself.  
  
“Has the penny finally dropped?” Jared says with a sneer. “Took you long enough.” Before Jensen can stop himself his arms fly out and shove Jared backwards.  
  
“Shut up,” he says through gritted teeth. “Just…shut up.”  
  
Jared shoves him right back, using his height to his advantage. “Why? Have I touched a nerve?” Jensen shoves him back and soon they’re both pushing and shoving at each other and suddenly they’re not fighting but kissing each other like their lives depend on it.  
  
Jensen wonders how the hell this night is going to end.  
  
~  
  
“We shouldn’t have done that,” Jared says three hours later when they’re both sitting up in Jensen’s bed, with the stench of sex in the air and a trail of clothes lying in the door way. He can feel how tense Jared is beside him but all Jensen can think is he’s still here because despite everything, Jensen still has hope. He knows that if they just figure their shit out they can be good again.  
  
He decides there and then that he’s going to win Jared back, no matter how long it takes.  
  
“Right,” he says into the silence when Jared doesn’t say anything else. “But it means that we still work together, there’s still something here, Jared.”  
  
“Or maybe it was just break-up sex,” Jared says sadly. “I’m sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean most of it.”  
  
“I’m sorry too,” Jensen says even though he’s not sorry at all because he’s glad that this has happened. Jared might want to call it ‘break up sex’ but Jensen knows better. He just has to get Jared to fall for him again and everything will be restored to natural order.  
  
“I should go…”  
  
“Stay,” Jensen responds instantly. “Just for old time’s sake…and then tomorrow we can give the friend’s thing another try?” Jared is hesitant but Jensen can feel the moment he loses his inner battle, can feel the way Jared relaxes against his side. That wouldn’t happen if they didn’t have anything, would it?  
  
“Okay,” Jared says. “Just for tonight.”  
  
Jensen puts his head on Jared’s shoulder and exhales gently.  
  
No matter how long it takes, he thinks.  
  
 **Fin** ~~/to-be-continued-maybe~~.


End file.
